HOORAY – RUBBING IS RACING

The gloves are off in the 2025 Supercars championship.

When Cam Waters went wheel-to-wheel and body-to-body with The Bulls on Saturday night in Sydney it set the tone for a new approach to Supercars racing.

Drivers now appear to be cleared to bump-and-rub, rock-and-roll, block-and-biff, without fear of an instant penalty.

The entertainment factor in Race 2 of the Sydney 500 was off the charts and marked a return to the rugged early days of touring car racing, when legendary drivers like Allan Moffat and Bob Jane swapped paint in every race.

The Sydney stoush showed even the drivers were happy to run a wild and have fun at the front in the final four-lap battle to the flag, as Waters took back-to-back wins with his Monster Mustang ahead of Broc Feeney and Will Brown in the Red Bull Camaros.

"Tonight we were let off the chain. It's probably the perfect storm," said Waters.

"We all want to race really hard. We want a bit of rubbing. We just don't want people to spin off."

Waters' view of the frantic Saturday night stoush was coloured by the result, as a last-corner bump set him up to draft past Feeney for the win in the final metres – repeating his season opening success on Friday night.

"It was great racing. Dragging down to the line," Waters said.

"It was all going. One of the more epic races I've been involved in. It was on for young and old.

"Had a pretty epic battle with these two. I got beaten up. But didn't give up."

It was Feeney who defended all the way to the flag, but Brown was also tag-teaming in the entertaining three-way fight.

"We were all running into each other quite a lot. I think that's what everyone wants to see," said Feeney.

"I think we're going more and more NASCAR style, where you can rub up a little bit more.

"There was a fair bit of contact in that race, but it showed they are probably going to let you race harder this year by the look of it.

"It's tough racing. Fans absolutely loved it. So everyone is going to agree that's the way we should race now.

"There is probably a new style. Being allowed to race hard and bump into each other."

Brown, too, could see the benefits of relaxing the rules on contact.

"We were definitely racing hard. Lucky I had my seat belt on, or I would have got whiplash a couple of times," he joked.

"I think that race sets a new standard for what we can and can't do. I think it's good. We can get into it and keep doing it."

But there are still questions – even if the fans have already given their view, judging by the roar from the grandstand crowd in Sydney.

The aggressive new style could be a result of the new championship format, which forces drivers to push hard to keep pace through the Sprint Cup.

The close-quarter contact in Sydney was also triggered by late-race tyre dramas – one of the objectives of a Dunlop rubber switch for 2025 – and aggression by defenders and attackers.

So, will Craig Baird and the rest of the team in Race Control go easier on the drivers? Is 'The Show' more important than the sporting regulations? Will mirrors and panels be sacrificed for better racing and entertainment?

It's too early for real answers to those questions.

The Sydney scuffle was triggered as Feeney and Waters got hot and heavy, with Waters admitting he made a mistake and was fumbling to redress against a pair of Bulls who looked identical under the lights. He got mugged.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to get a penalty," Waters said.

"Will was hitting me into Broc. He fed me a wheel, which was probably fair."

The drivers are now waiting for news from Race Control.

"We're probably pretty uncertain at the moment. Does there come a penalty?", said Feeney.

"It is a bit of a grey area now. I think either they need to take the gloves off completely, or . . . The race was so exciting, you don't want to penalise anyone," said Brown.

"But, also . . . It's a grey area now to know if you can do it for fifth place, or just for first. Can you get away with that every day?"

But Feeney was certain about one thing.

"Obviously I was on the wrong end of the stick. It was pretty wild for those last five laps," he said.

"He (Waters) had his front bar in my rear bar and he was able to drag race me to the line. It sucks to lose right there at the end."